While many entrepreneurs and business owners begin their online marketing strategies with a web presence, most often forgotten are the essential functional processes and web business management considerations that need to be addressed first.

The Worm

Google, MSN and Yahoo have tricked us into thinking that all anyone has to do is search for you and subsequently find you. No so, Grasshopper. The truth of the matter is that you'll need to figure out how to draw people to your site. In most cases, giving something away free, holding a contest, offering a product demonstration or doing some other eye-catching, interesting thing or activity will be the reason people come to you in the first place. Figure out what "bait" you will use to lure customers to your domain, and integrate this plan into your web project prior to the site build. If you build a great site, and no one is going to know about it - How Great Is It?

Money Matters

In the hustle and bustle of designing, developing and uploading you'll have to know how you will accept payments from your customers. The old days of "download the payment form" are long gone, and sure to add an element of frustration to the buyer. A shrewd business owner would be wise to investigate options for online billing and accounting management well in advance of any page being posted to show off the inventory. At the end of the day, all that matters is that your web site captured a customer purchase and created a profit for your business. If your process is not in place, you can expect billing snafus, product delivery chaos, and potentially tax trouble. Do yourself a favor. Figure out how to get the money. Then figure out how it gets to YOU!

Pushing to the Masses

Wouldn't it be great to drive hundreds or even thousands of people to your web site? Well, what if that happened and you had no way of capturing any information about your audience? Sad but true, many web business owners forget to effectively use mailing lists and autoresponders to entice the visitors into leaving an email address for future contact. The benefits of high traffic volumes only creates a profitable return on your investment when you are able to create repeat visits. Bookmarks and favorites only create an OPTION for the end-user should they choose to remember to see what's going on with your site. Your mailing list or autoresponder strategies put your site in front of the end-user on a regular basis and help to keep their attention. In the marketing world this is called "push" marketing, and you would do well to use it.

Now What Do I Do?

Your arsenal now consists of at least three things that you can use right now to start developing your initial concepts and strategies for your web site. Notice there was no mention of templates, or colors, or anything that might dance across the screen. Those things can be important depending on your business industry, but they're not AS important as developing a site that serves a function to create a profit, and attract customers on your behalf.

If you need help with developing your strategies, or maybe just trying to figure out what you should be doing in the first place, visit www.webbusinessownership.com. Our free monthly Business Booster Call helps business owners to "Get the right information and advice about owning a web business from Professionals who are qualified to give it."